What am I?

What am I? No, it’s not an existential question. It’s a question I get all the time. As in, “He’s sooooo cute! What is he?”

I assume it’s obvious I’m of the canine persuasion. So they must be asking about my breed.

First of all, it’s kind of personal question, right? It’s not exactly politically correct to question another’s parentage. But what the hay? We’re among intimates here on ScoutAbout.dog. DNA testing is all the rage, not that I’m going to go that far here, but I will share what I know with you, my dear reader,  and explain the sad facts of why I don’t know more.

You see, I’m a rescue dog. I was shuttled from family to family — four, count ‘em four times in three years — before I got scooped up into my forever home. (What a happy day that was!)  I never knew my parents and my paper trail is a little bit spotty, with various veterinary records rather poorly redacting prior owners’ names and addresses. (“Redacting” is word I learned watching the news this spring!) 

One document identified me as Pomeranian, which, as you can see, is not even close. Others have labeled me “Terrier” — itself a catch-all for many breeds — as well as “Havanese,” “Mixed Breed,” and “Terrier-Havanese Mix.” (Click on the photo to see the breeds)

I took a look at Google images, and frankly, West Highland Terriers looks kind of like cousins. The Jack Russell Terrier’s color pattern and stocky body type look a little bit like mine. Neither are a perfect match.

Here’s a photo of a Havanese I grabbed from the web. It’s almost like looking in the mirror, right? The Havanese is a Cuban circus dog, bred for the aptitude to perform clever tricks. I love to do tricks. I can balance a treat on my nose, roll over, beg, spin, dance, and jump through Her legs. Just sayin’... I am pretty good at tricks. But I am about 30 percent bigger than a Havanese, and more barrel-chested.

So what am I? Wavanese? Javanese? Tavanese? Herrier?

In the end, what does it matter?

I’m pretty happy just being Scout.